The next day I was up at six in the morning on the dot. I pulled on decent outdoor clothes and speed-walked through the halls towards Professor Brook’s office. Professor Brooks was there, luckily. I knocked three times and heard him call, “Come in.” I opened the door and walked inside. He looked up. “Oh. Good morning, Acwulf. You’re up early.” I nodded absentmindedly. Straight to business, I thought. “Hi. I think I know where the missing people went.” Professor’s Brooks’ eyes lit up, any sign that he needed coffee this early in the morning gone. “How? Where?” “A different world. I have a decent hunch on who did it, and I’m going to go find out if I’m right.” “Then why are you here? You’re clearly not asking for permission.” “I’d rather you know where and what I’m doing than just assuming that the most powerful student in the year got taken as well. Granted, that might happen, but I wanted to give you some heads up.” He nodded slowly. “I’m assuming I can’t stop you?” I shook my head. “My little brother was taken. And one of my friends. There is nothing you can do to make me stay here.” Professor Brooks sighed. “Alright. Any messages you’d like me to pass on?” “Tell my friends where I went. Please try to make sure they don’t follow me until I contact them.” I backed towards the door. “Hopefully I’ll see you again with the missing people back here.” Professor Brooks nodded. “Good luck, Acwulf.” I turned, sprinting out the door and all the way to the woods. ~~~ I slowed to a stop around the old shadow part. We’d banished the illusion of darkness from the woods the year before, but Chaiyn had mentioned that the darkness wasn’t completely gone. Which made sense - the monsters were never gone from any of their hosts, whether it be human or a patch of forest. I was just remembering the location of where I was trying to go when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around and met the turquoise eyes of a Sight-Seer. “Hi, Chaiyn,” I said, trying not to sound too guilty of anything. “Where are you going?” He asked. “Raza’s missing. I’m going to go find him,” I explained, the words slipping out before I could stop them. “I’ve got an idea where the missing people are, but I don’t want to drag anyone else in.” I paused for breath, my brain finally catching up with the words. “I’m in.” I didn’t even hear him. I just continued rambling. “I’m going to find him. You can’t stop me from going, so don’t even-” “Wolf,” Chaiyn cut in, holding up a hand. “I just said I’m in.” I blinked. “What?” “Maya’s missing too. It’s much too quiet around the clearing, and I don’t want to lose her again like last time.” He met my eyes, and I could see nothing but turquoise and resolve hidden there. “So I’m coming with you whether you like it or not.” I swallowed, but whatever objections I thought I would have had simply weren’t there. “Alright.” He flashed a grin that faded quickly. “So spill. Who, why, and where?” “Who? Jessica. Why? I have no clue. Where?” I shrugged. “I’ve got a few theories on where to start.” He nodded. “Let’s get going. I’ll follow you.” I started walking and he fell into step next to me. “I was thinking that if it is Jessica, she might have some connection to Cozbi’s grave here.” “I’d forgotten that was here. Who made it?” “I would think Ren, since none of us did it, but I’m not sure.” We walked in silence for a few more minutes. I finally found the clearing and we stood inside. There was a small mound of dirt and a jagged cut rock in the center, but the rest of the clearing was mostly unchanged. The two of us wandered around, observing anything that could possibly be evidence as to a rift between worlds or a kidnapping. “I wasn’t completely straight with you, Acwulf.” My head shot up at the voice. I’d been staring at Cozbi’s gravestone, which simply said /Here lies Cozbi Verano. Good riddance./ Chaiyn met my eyes, and I just shrugged. The voice came again a few seconds later. “The day I explained to you about society. Implying that I didn’t think werewolves were bad.” The voice was vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Judging from Chaiyn’s expression, he couldn’t either. I heard footsteps. I tried to find where the voice was coming from, but it seemed to move as it spoke. “No one ever asked if /I/ was okay with being a werewolf. You got all the attention. I saved your life, and what do I get for it? A /dance/. One two or three minute /dance/ in exchange for saving your life.” The speaker paused again, and when she spoke again, it came from behind us. “Once a werewolf bites someone, it gets nearly impossible not to bite another. And I need that to end. So I’ve joined the side that’ll actually pay attention to my feelings and not just yours.” (cont. below)
(Story cont.) The voice came closer. “I’m sorry, but I can’t deal with hiding in the shadows anymore.” Before I could even turn around, my hands were tied behind my back. I probably could’ve fought back, but I saw Chaiyn get knocked unconscious beside me and my brain was already trying to figure out a million puzzles at once. “Tell Harlow I’m sorry,” the voice whispered in my ear. “For a lot of things. But it won’t change the fact that I still love you.” As I was knocked out, I finally put the pieces together and realized three things. She’d never loved Harlow the way she loved me. She was apologizing for that and a good deal of other things. My first ever friend hadn’t been taken, or ended up as one of the missing kids. And third, my captor was Shadow Sanchez. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes/Credits: Hi! Welcome to The Dark Prison - the third book in The Wolf Stories. If you haven't read The Wolf Boy or The Monster's Curse, I highly suggest you do so! This is Chapter 7, enjoy! Previous Chapter(s): Chpt 1 Pt 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/750051827/ Chpt 1 Pt 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/753809497/ Chpt 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/758384060/ Chpt 3: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/765725763/ Chpt 4: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/766550820/ Chpt 5: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/774614819/ Chpt 6: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/774738889/ Credits: Me, for being the author Shannon Messenger, JK Rowling, Eoin Colfer, Rick Riordan, and many other authors for inspo @aqua_di_angelo, @AL600AWESOME, @Lanze_cupcake_face11, and @Yayabinks for inspo and supporting the story! QOTW: Idk any questions to ask, ask me a question about the story instead!
